Fishing lure



Feb 20, L' ADAM ET AL FISHING LURE Filed Jan. l0, 1948 `through the water.

Patented Feb. 20, 1951 2,542,447 v FISHING' LURE Lewis D. Adam, Detroit, Mich..and Nelia G. Poplin, Ponca City, Okla.

Application January 10, 1948, Serial No. 1,505

which is secured to the front end of the body of the lure for causing the same to dive when pulled through the water. The bill of a fish lure of this type must be accurately positioned and arranged with respect to the body of the lure so that the lure will have the proper diving characteristicsy and any damage or deformation of the bill will affect the diving characteristics of the lure. Deep running fishl lures often encounter rocks or other obstructions near the bottom of the body of water in which they are being used or strike rocks when cast with the result that the bill is subject to damage which frequently renders the lure ineffective and inoperative.

This invention has for its principal object the provision of an improved brace or supporting means for the bill of a fish lure, which includes a rear portion secured to the lure body, an intermediate portion which extends parallel to and closely adjacent to a portion of the underside f the bill, and a forward eye portion which projects upwardly through the bill and to which a fishing line is adapted to be attached for pulling the lure This improved type of supporting means incr-eases the eiciency and life of the fish lure in that it reinforces the bill in a far more efficient manner than has heretofore been accomplished and as the brace extends parallel and closely adjacent to the bill, it does not interfere with the flow of water over the bill or the lure nor does it affect the diving characteristics thereof. The brace therefore provides a iish lure in which th-e bill is rigidly supported so as to be less susceptible to deformation and damage if it strikes any rock or projection.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the fish lure of this invention, A

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the 2 Claims. (Cl. 43-42.47)

structure illustrated in Fig. 2 taken substantially along the line 3 3 thereof,

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1 taken substantially along the line 4 4 thereof, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1 taken along the line 5-5 thereof.

Referring now to the drawing, it will be seen that the sh lure includes a body l, which may be made of any suitable material suchas wood or plastic, and which may be solid or hollow. The body 1 is illustrated in the drawing as being formed from a solid block of wood and is shaped so that the rear portion thereof will have considerable buoyancy. This tends to elevate the rear portion and thereby increase the diving angle.y

The underside of the front end of the body 'l is angularly cut back so as to provide an angular frontface 9. Hooks I Ilare secured to the underside of the body 1, adjacent the rear end thereof and intermediate the longitudinal ends thereof, by means of suitable brackets I3 and screws l5.

A bill l1, including a forwardly projecting scoop-like portion I9 and an angularly extending platelike portion 2|, is secured to the front portion of the lure body l. The bill Vl is secured to the inclined body front face 9 by means of screws 23 which secure the bill platelike portion 2l against the angular front face 9 so that the scoop portion I 9 extends forwardly of the lure body l, at a slight angle below the horizontal. The location of the bill I'i-with respect to the body l, as Wellas the shape of the bill, must be so coordinated with the shape of the body l, that when the lure is pulled through the water at ordinarily retrieving or trolling speeds it will run deep.

A brace 25 is provided for reinforcing the bill l1 so as to lessen any danger ofdeformation or damage thereto if it should strike an obstruction such as a rock or projection on the bottom of the body of water through which the lure is being pulled. The brace 25 includes a rear platelike portion 2l which engages the underside of the bill plate portion 2| and is secured to the latter and to the body 7 by the aforementioned screws 23. The brace 25 includes an intermediate-portion 29 which is shaped so as to extend substantially parallel and closely adjacent to the underside of the bill scoop portion I 9. The forward portion of the brace 25 is initially formed as a pair of eyes 3l and 33 which extend transversely outwardly on opposite sides of the intermediate brace portion 25, in the plane of the latter. The eyes 3l and 33, prior to the assembly of the fish lure, are bent upwardly into side-by-side relationship, as best illustrated in Fig. 5, so as to provide an upstanding eye generally indicated at 35, which, when the reinforcing element is secured to the bill l1 and body 1, projects upwardly through a slot 39 in the scoop portion of the bill. A iishing line 4I may be secured to the eye 35 for use in pulling the lure through the water.

It will be appreciated that as the intermediate portion 2'9 of the .brace 21 extends parallel and closely adjacent to the underside of the scoop portion I9, the lure is better balanced and will travel through the water in a more ecient manner than if the intermediater portion 29 extended angularly with respect to the bill scoop portion I9. Likewise, it will beappreciated that the construction and manner oiforming the eye 35 of the brace 25 V'permitszthe llorace to be formed in a relatively inexpensive and eilicient manner, while at the same time permitting the intermediate portion 129 to extend parallel to the underside yof Vthe bill scoop portion. .A .ruggedly constructed eye 35 is thus -provlided towhich the 'fish line i1 "may'beattached lheiish 'lure :of this :invention Sis thus eiieiently designed and constructed -so afs-to he deep Vrunning, andthe bill Vis reinforced so that it willinot befeasily =.defo1med=or damaged :so as to throwthe lure out of V'balance and render it ineffective for the :deep runningA action for which tis designed.

We claim:

1. A ns'h lure @including a body, a forwardly projecting bill having a portion engaging the frontend rof said 'body and a portion 'projecting forwardly of said hody, having a substantially central. -elongat'ed `opening therein, a reinforcing element for said bill including a rearportion lying against the'portion :of lsaid bill :engaging said body, means rigidlyv seouringsaid bill and element portions to said body, an intermediate portion of said element :extending throughout fits entire length substantially parallel and closely adjacent to the underside of said bill so as to reinforce the same, and a forward portion projecting upwardly through the opening in the forwardly projecting portion of said bill and forming an eye to which a iishing line is adapted to be attached, the for- Ward edge of said reinforcing element forward portion abutting the portion of said forwardly projecting bill portion which defines the forward edge of said bill opening.

2. A sh lure including a body, a forwardly 4projecting bill secured to the front end of said -body,;a one piece sheet metal reinforcing element for said bill including a rear portion secured to 'saidbody Aan intermediate portion extending substantially parallel and closely adjacent to the underside .of the said bill so as to reinforce the same, and a forward portion comprising integral folded sections disposed Ain an upstanding sideby-side relationship and projecting upwardly from said .reinforcing `element intermediate portion and through said bill so as to provide an eye to which 1.a .iishing lines adapted to be attached.

LEWIS D. ADAM. NELIA G. POPLIN.

REFERENCES CITED The ifolloWingn-,eferences are .of record in the tile of vthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date "1,840,273 Lang Jan. 5, 1932 1,982,081 Stage Nov.,27`, V1934. 2,190,791 Larscnn"- Feb. 2i), 1940 2,217,789 Bobo Oct. 15, 1940 k212345439 Larson Mar. 11, 1941 2,313,709 Dunkelberger Mar, 9, 1943 2,473,324 Adam June 14, 194.9 

